github.com/guilhermebr/docker@v1.4.2-0.20150428121140-67da055cebca/docs/sources/project/software-required.md (about) 1 page_title: Get the required software 2 page_description: Describes the software required to contribute to Docker 3 page_keywords: GitHub account, repository, Docker, Git, Go, make, 4 5 # Get the required software for Linux or OS X 6 7 This page explains how to get the software you need to use a Linux or OS X 8 machine for Docker development. Before you begin contributing you must have: 9 10 * a GitHub account 11 * `git` 12 * `make` 13 * `docker` 14 15 You'll notice that `go`, the language that Docker is written in, is not listed. 16 That's because you don't need it installed; Docker's development environment 17 provides it for you. You'll learn more about the development environment later. 18 19 ### Get a GitHub account 20 21 To contribute to the Docker project, you will need a <a 22 href="https://github.com" target="_blank">GitHub account</a>. A free account is 23 fine. All the Docker project repositories are public and visible to everyone. 24 25 You should also have some experience using both the GitHub application and `git` 26 on the command line. 27 28 ### Install git 29 30 Install `git` on your local system. You can check if `git` is on already on your 31 system and properly installed with the following command: 32 33 $ git --version 34 35 36 This documentation is written using `git` version 2.2.2. Your version may be 37 different depending on your OS. 38 39 ### Install make 40 41 Install `make`. You can check if `make` is on your system with the following 42 command: 43 44 $ make -v 45 46 This documentation is written using GNU Make 3.81. Your version may be different 47 depending on your OS. 48 49 ### Install or upgrade Docker 50 51 If you haven't already, install the Docker software using the 52 <a href="/installation" target="_blank">instructions for your operating system</a>. 53 If you have an existing installation, check your version and make sure you have 54 the latest Docker. 55 56 To check if `docker` is already installed on Linux: 57 58 $ docker --version 59 Docker version 1.5.0, build a8a31ef 60 61 On Mac OS X or Windows, you should have installed Boot2Docker which includes 62 Docker. You'll need to verify both Boot2Docker and then Docker. This 63 documentation was written on OS X using the following versions. 64 65 $ boot2docker version 66 Boot2Docker-cli version: v1.5.0 67 Git commit: ccd9032 68 69 $ docker --version 70 Docker version 1.5.0, build a8a31ef 71 72 ## Linux users and sudo 73 74 This guide assumes you have added your user to the `docker` group on your system. 75 To check, list the group's contents: 76 77 $ getent group docker 78 docker:x:999:ubuntu 79 80 If the command returns no matches, you have two choices. You can preface this 81 guide's `docker` commands with `sudo` as you work. Alternatively, you can add 82 your user to the `docker` group as follows: 83 84 $ sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu 85 86 You must log out and log back in for this modification to take effect. 87 88 89 ## Where to go next 90 91 In the next section, you'll [learn how to set up and configure Git for 92 contributing to Docker](/project/set-up-git/).